Wim Jansen

Wilhelmus Marinus Anthonius Jansen (born 28 October 1946 in Rotterdam) is a Dutch former footballer and manager. Jansen won 65 international caps with the Netherlands national football team and played in the Dutch teams that reached the 1974 and 1978 World Cup Finals.

Playing career

He spent most of his playing career with his hometown team, Feyenoord, between 1965 and 1980. At Feyenoord, Jansen won four League Championships, one Dutch Cup, one UEFA Cup in 1974, and the European Cup in 1970 when Feyenoord defeated Celtic 2–1 in Milan.

Jansen signed for the American side Washington Diplomats in 1980, but after playing 27 games for them, he returned to the Netherlands to sign for Ajax, on the advice of Johan Cruyff, who played together with Jansen at the Washington Diplomats.

Jansen would play as libero and fill a gap in the Ajax defence after the departure of Krol in the summer of 1980. By November 1980, after 13 rounds of the Eredivise Ajax were 8th, by the end of the season they had picked up form and finished as runners-up behind AZ and in front of FC Utrecht. The next season Ajax went on to win the Eredivisie with Jansen in the team. Feyenoord fans didn't like former player Jansen playing for their main rivals Ajax. On his Ajax debut (which, incidentally, was away to Feyenoord. Ajax lost 4–2) a snowball was thrown at his eye and Jansen had to leave the field for treatment. Jansen stayed at Ajax until summer 1982 when he retired at age 35.

A.C. Milan

Associazione Calcio Milan (Italian pronunciation: [assotʃatˈtsjoːne ˈkaltʃo ˈmiːlan]), commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seasons, in the top flight of Italian football, known as Serie A since 1929–30.

With 18 officially recognised UEFA and FIFA titles, they are the second most successful club in the world in terms of number of international titles, together with Boca Juniors and Real Madrid, and behind Al Ahly with twenty titles. Milan has won a joint record of three Intercontinental Cups and one of its successor, the FIFA Club World Cup. Milan have also won the European Cup/Champions League on seven occasions, second only to Real Madrid. They have also won the UEFA Super Cup a joint record five times and the Cup Winners' Cup twice. Milan has won every major competition in which it has competed, with the exception of the Europa League (in this competition they have lost two semi-finals in 1972 and in 2002). Domestically, with 18 league titles Milan is the joint-second most successful club in Serie A behind Juventus (31 titles), along with local rivals Inter. They have also won the Coppa Italia five times, as well as six Supercoppa Italiana triumphs.

UEFA Europa League

The UEFA Europa League, previously called the UEFA Cup, is an annual association football club competition organized by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues and cup competitions.

Previously called the UEFA Cup, the competition has been known as the UEFA Europa League since the 2009–10 season, following a change in format. For UEFA footballing records purposes, the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League are considered the same competition, with the change of name being simply a rebranding.

In 1999, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was abolished and merged with the UEFA Cup. For the 2004–05 competition a group stage was added prior to the knockout phase. The 2009 re-branding included a merge with the UEFA Intertoto Cup, producing an enlarged competition format, with an expanded group stage and changed qualifying criteria. The winner of the UEFA Europa League qualifies for the UEFA Super Cup, and from the 2014–15 season onwards the winner of the UEFA Europa League also qualifies for the next edition of the UEFA Champions League. The winner enters at least at the play-off round (assuming they do not already qualify through domestic performance), and will enter the group stage if the berth reserved for the Champions League title holders is not used.

Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club /ˈtɒtᵊnəm/, commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English football club located in Tottenham, London, that competes in the Premier League. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane. Their newly developed training ground is in Bulls Cross on the northern borders of the London Borough of Enfield.

Founded in 1882, Tottenham won the FA Cup for the first time in 1901, making them the only non-League club to do so since the formation of the Football League in 1888. Tottenham were the first club in the 20th century to achieve the League and FA Cup Double, winning both competitions in the 1960–61 season. After successfully defending the FA Cup in 1962, in 1963 they became the first British club to win a UEFA club competition – the European Cup Winners' Cup. In 1967, Spurs won the FA Cup for a third time in the 1960s. In the 1970s Tottenham won the League Cup on two occasions and were the inaugural winner of the UEFA Cup in 1972, becoming the first British club to win two different major European trophies. In the 1980s Spurs won several trophies: the FA Cup twice, FA Community Shield and the UEFA Cup in 1984. In the 1990s the club won the FA Cup and the League Cup. When they won the League Cup once more in 2008, it meant that they had won a major trophy in each of the last six decades – an achievement only matched by Manchester United.